A Starlit Summer Page 17

  Jenna swigged her gin. ‘You’re sorry you got the role, but you’re not sorry for deceiving me? That’s unbelievable, Heidi. How am I ever supposed to trust you again? How can I forgive you when you won’t even apologise for being a bitch and stealing the role from right under me? Did you ever stop to think that it could’ve been my big break too? My opportunity? We’ll never know now.’

  ‘You’ve just got your big break.’ She made speech marks with her fingers. ‘By “shagging” Milo Blake and having the whole bloody world know about it.’

  ‘You think what’s happened over the past couple of weeks is my big break? Complete lies are being spun about me and Milo, and what you consider to be a big break is actually reality TV and stuff I’ve never craved. It’s notoriety and fame for fame’s sake, and not because I’m good at my job and have furthered my career because I’m talented.’ Jenna downed her drink and stood up. ‘I really can’t hear any more of this. I thought an apology from you could be the starting point of us trying to repair our friendship, but you’re so full of yourself and bitter that you can’t see how wrong you were.’

  ‘You’re really not into him? Milo?’

  ‘No, I’m really not, and he has nothing to do with our issues, you realise that, right?’

  Jenna walked away, feeling even more fired up and annoyed with Heidi. It was a half-hearted apology and one that Jenna didn’t want to accept, not if Heidi couldn’t see the truth. She’d always thought they’d been on an even footing when it came to everything – their looks, their talent, the opportunities that came their way. It was a shock to know that Heidi didn’t see it like that.

  Jenna walked back to the bar without thinking. The sensible thing would have been to go back to the cottage; instead she found herself getting another gin and tonic and joining Lily, Ade and Timothy at their table. She had a rare weekday off and nothing planned for tomorrow, so she could enjoy herself tonight, safe in the knowledge that Milo Blake wasn’t around to mess things up for her again.

  ~

  Unlike the day before when she woke up feeling like she had a hangover, Jenna actually did wake with a hangover the morning after her evening at the hotel. That first gin and tonic with Heidi had turned into a fair few more, and her anger at Heidi dissipated with an evening of laughter with Lily, Ade and Timothy. Heidi hadn’t joined them. Although a little while after she left her outside, Jenna had seen her sidle through the bar. Jenna knew she should care, after all, they’d been best friends for years, yet at the same time a little voice kept telling her that friends didn’t treat each other the way Heidi had treated her. Friends supported each other and were honest. So, she’d ignored her and had a good evening with her new friends before calling a taxi to take her back to the cottage.

  She had no idea what she was going to do with her day off. Finn had no clue that she’d be home, so maybe it was best if she spent the day somewhere else, away from the cottage and his anger, but with her car still in the hotel car park it felt like too much of an effort. She’d had a run-in with Heidi yesterday, she couldn’t face another one with Finn, someone she actually cared about. Unlike Heidi, he’d done nothing wrong, apart from making assumptions.

  But she couldn’t avoid him forever.

  And the garden was calling. With long hours filming and busy weekends, she’d hardly had a chance to get outside and continue working on it. She’d made such progress in the beginning that she didn’t want the momentum to stop. She only had until the end of the summer to make a real difference, to transform the outside the way Finn and his dad were working wonders on the inside.

  She was outside at the front of the cottage trying to untangle brambles entwined around a rose when she heard the van pull into the drive. Her heart raced as the engine turned off and a door slammed.

  Just the one door.

  Finn came round the corner of the cottage, carrying his tool box. He was deliciously familiar, his hair windswept, wearing tan builder’s shorts, a fitted cream T-shirt and work boots, yet his smile was missing.

  ‘Morning,’ he said and headed straight inside.

  Jenna threw down her secateurs. She took off her gardening gloves. She couldn’t stay out here and ignore him. There was no excuse, particularly as his dad wasn’t with him.

  It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dimness inside. Finn’s tool box was on the table, and he had his back to her as he filled the kettle with water.

  He’d obviously heard her come in. ‘I wasn’t expecting you to be here.’

  ‘I have a day off.’

  ‘Do you want a coffee?’

  ‘I can make it.’

  Finn flicked the kettle switch and faced her. ‘I’m working in the living room today – knocking out the old fireplace. It’ll be loud and messy; hope you don’t mind.’

  ‘No, it’s fine, don’t let me get in the way.’

  They were being too polite, like they didn’t know each other past a professional working relationship. Maybe she should just let him get on. Was it really a good idea to have that conversation first thing in the morning when he was dying for a coffee and she was yearning to rip out weeds in the garden?

  He answered her question by picking up his tool box and heading towards the living room. ‘I’ll get on then.’

  She sighed and took two mugs out of the cupboard and made them both a coffee. She poked her head round the living room door. ‘Coffee’s on the kitchen table.’

  The weeds and brambles took the brunt of her frustration and it wasn’t long before she managed to untangle the rose and she had a mountain of brambles piled next to her. She retrieved two large bags from the tumbledown shed and snipped the brambles into smaller pieces, compacting it down into the bags before going back to detangle the next rose.

  Thump, thump, thump.

  Jenna looked up, put her hands on her hips and stretched, her back sore from bending over for too long. The thumping was coming from the living room and Jenna imagined Finn bashing away at the ugly 1960s fireplace. Alongside the cottage’s beamed ceiling and sash windows, the concrete monstrosity was completely out of place. Jenna had wanted to take a lump hammer to it when she’d first visited the cottage with her parents. Apart from needing a break, she was desperate to see what would be revealed once the concrete was ripped away. Plus it was an excuse to talk to Finn. She dropped her gloves and secateurs on the grass and headed inside.

  Finn’s T-shirt was covered in dust. He had a mask over his mouth but the rest of his face gleamed with sweat and his hair was grey with dirt. He grasped a lump hammer in his hands and rhythmically hit it against the fire surround. His arm muscles took the strain every time he smashed the hammer down. Fine dust and bits of chipped concrete flew from the fireplace, scattering over the floor and on to the sofa and armchair covered with old sheets. It was a messy and back-breaking job, but she did wonder if he was venting more anger on the fire surround than was necessary.

  He caught sight of her, swung the lump hammer into the surround and then stopped. He dropped it to the floor with a thud and wiped the back of his hand across his face.

  Jenna moved further into the dust-covered room. ‘Are you likely to find anything behind it?’

  Finn pulled the mask down from his mouth. ‘It’ll definitely reveal the old brickwork, not sure what the surround will be like though. But it’ll open it up and once it’s repaired it’ll look a hundred times better. Are you going to put a wood burner in or have an open fire?’

  ‘Not sure; if the place is going to be rented out I imagine my parents will go for a wood burner.’

  With the sun pouring through the windows highlighting the dust dancing in the light, it was hard to imagine a wood burner pumping out heat in the middle of winter. Although it had returned to normal British summer temperatures after the July heatwave, Jenna was still hot from working on the garden in the hazy sunshine. She also felt heat rising to her cheeks at the thought of the conversation she knew they had to have.

  Finn picked up
the hammer again.

  ‘Can we talk?’ Jenna asked.

  ‘I don’t think there’s anything to say.’

  ‘That’s because you’ve ignored my texts and phone calls.’

  ‘With good reason.’

  Jenna rubbed her fingers across her forehead. With his fist tense around the lump hammer and clenched cheeks, anger simmered off him. How could she make him believe that she was telling the truth? She folded her arms. That was exactly what she needed to tell him, the truth. So what if Milo was desperate to hide who he really was and she was taking a risk by telling Finn. With no other option it was all she could do.

  ‘The funny thing about the situation – and it’s not actually funny, I know that, is Milo is more likely to want to shag you than he would me.’ She met his eyes.

  Finn dropped the lump hammer on the floor and folded his arms.

  ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

  ‘Do I really have to spell it out?’ Jenna raised her eyebrows, but Finn stood his ground, his frown not shifting. ‘He’s gay. Somehow it’s managed to be the best kept secret in the film world. I think a few people know but pretend they don’t. He has a hell of a lot of influence and is determined to keep who he is a secret. I don’t think anyone would actually risk spilling the beans. He used me as a cover story, that’s all it was. All it is.’

  Finn began to slow clap. Dust puffed into the air each time his work gloves connected. ‘I got the feeling you’d be a good actress, but you’re fucking awesome.’

  He pulled the mask back over his mouth, lifted the hammer and swung it at the fireplace.

  Crash.

  Concrete tumbled to the floor in a dust cloud.

  Jenna wanted to scream. She was telling the truth and yet he still didn’t believe her. What the hell did she have to do to prove her innocence? She breathed deeply. He was too angry to talk to her right now. Maybe taking it out on the fireplace was the best thing he could do. Perhaps he’d be more amenable later. Wishful thinking, Jenna thought as she retreated back outside to continue taking her own frustration out on the brambles.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Hot Now Magazine had a new photo on the cover. The pristine white walls of the hotel and one of its balconies was instantly recognisable. The people on it were familiar too: Milo and Heidi. Kissing. The headline read MILO BLAKE’S LOVE TRIANGLE. Jenna’s heart sank as she thumbed through the magazine and found the four-page spread detailing the ins and outs of Milo’s supposed love life. The photos jumped out; another grainy one of Milo and Heidi snogging, this time in his hotel room with the doors and curtains conveniently left open; another of her and Heidi animated and angry out on the hotel’s terrace; plus, one of Jenna getting in a taxi late at night looking worse for wear.

  She read the article with an increasing tightness in her chest. The love triangle was meant to be between her, Milo and Heidi. They’d made it look like Milo had cheated on her with Heidi, and rather than the actual truth of Jenna confronting Heidi about their friendship and the role she stole from her, the magazine instead insinuated that Jenna had been confronting Heidi about her relationship with Milo.

  Somehow Heidi had been drawn into Milo’s game and Jenna was still caught in his web of lies. She flung the magazine down. So, because she’d refused to play along, he’d twisted it to make himself look lusted after by not just one but two pretty blonde actresses. Had Heidi asked her to meet her at the hotel because she knew there’d be a photographer there? Was that a set-up too? It felt as if she was being manipulated on all sides, first by Milo and now by someone she’d once called a friend.

  There was absolutely no way Finn would listen to her now. He hadn’t believed her when she told him the truth about Milo being gay, and now there was more ‘evidence’ that Milo was involved with both her and Heidi. She might as well give up on the idea of ever mending her relationship with Finn. It was never going to last anyway. Without the Milo thing, it would have been a summer romance and then they’d have to kiss goodbye when she headed back to her life in London and he continued with his in Cornwall. The fact that they only got to spend two blissful days together rather than the whole summer irked her more than anything, but she couldn’t turn back time or erase all the crap that had been written about her.

  She was wrapped for the day and instead of going back to the cottage she drove to the coast and parked in a small National Trust car park. She closed the car door, disturbing birds in the undergrowth, sending them flapping into the air.

  She walked to clear her head, to get away from the incessant questions and speculation. The beach was off the beaten track, like the one Finn had taken her to, with a steep path cutting into the hillside. It was early evening and people were beginning to pack up from their day on the beach and head back to wherever they were staying. The view as she made her way down was epic: white sand kissed by turquoise sea and rock stacks towering out of the water. Although there were still lots of people about it was peaceful and that was the main thing. Her day had been filled with noise: the hairdryer to style her hair; the constant chatter of the make-up ladies; the music in the scene they’d shot, followed by applause after applause after applause, take after take after take. How difficult was it to get a scene right that simply involved clapping and a couple of ‘looks’? Very, it seemed by the length of time it took today. Lunch had been filled with people talking, cutlery clashing, the scrap of plates, laughter. She craved peace and quiet to clear her head and to allow herself to think straight.

  The sand was soft underfoot, making it slow-going walking across to a quiet spot backed by one of the dark grey and rust-red hued rocks. It was an antidote to the noise in her head. Birds soared and the only other movement was the white foamy peaks of gentle waves bubbling on the sand.

  Although she wanted to be alone, she needed to talk to Carla, the only person who knew the truth about the situation with both Milo and Heidi. She took out her mobile and rang her. It went to voicemail. She didn’t leave a message. She sat down and stared across the beach to where the dry sand had darkened from the waves. Someone had drawn a heart, but Jenna couldn’t make out the names in the middle of it. She imagined it said Finn and Jenna, then imagined dragging her foot through it until it resembled nothing more than a pile of damp sand.

  It took three tries to reach Carla.

  ‘Sorry, you’re not working are you?’

  ‘Nah, not today. Kickboxing class. Finished now though, so you’ve got a couple of minutes before I hit the showers. Let me guess, Heidi?’

  ‘I’m so bloody predictable, aren’t I? I’m down in Cornwall working on the most incredible job and the last couple of weeks all I’ve done is moan about it.’

  ‘Actually, you’ve not moaned once about the job. It’s Milo fucking Blake who’s the problem. And I totally get why you’re stressed with Heidi being there, particularly when you weren’t expecting her to be.’

  ‘You’re too good to me, Carla.’

  ‘I’m your friend, silly. So what’s happened?’

  ‘You’ve not seen the latest copy of Hot Now?’

  ‘Oh shit, no.’

  ‘Apparently there’s now a love triangle between me, Heidi and Milo. Photos and everything. My conversation with Heidi played out beautifully for a pap to capture, and a gossip mag to turn it into something it isn’t.’

  ‘Bloody hell, Jen. Is Heidi playing along with it? Actually, I know the answer to that.’

  ‘He’s directing the narrative, Carla. He’s bloody clever about it, getting actresses like me cast at a point in their career where it’s an incredible opportunity. Flirt with them, lead them on, suggest the pretence of hooking up would do wonders for their career. And if you don’t play along, well then, he just makes something else up.’

  ‘And as we already know, she’ll do anything to get bigger and better parts.’

  Jenna ran her fingers through the cool grains of sand. ‘While Milo gets to maintain his position as a Hollywood heart throb with
women falling all over him.’

  ‘How miserable to live with that kind of pretence, particularly when he’s famous enough to be scrutinised constantly.’

  ‘But people buy into it, don’t they? They’re not looking further than him snogging Heidi in his hotel room, and “oh my goodness, what a terrible mistake, we left the curtains open...”’

  ‘Or suggestively putting his hand on your bum and whispering in your ear when he knew the paps were there. He’s a snake.’

  ‘He’s protecting himself by screwing around with other people’s lives, thinking he’s doing them a favour.’

  ‘He probably is doing Heidi a favour. She’ll be loving the attention. You wait, her agent will be getting calls just like your agent did.’

  ~

  Despite her made-up life being played out online and in gossip magazines, Jenna’s real life continued as normal. She was back to work the next day. It was mid-August and much like her mood, the weather had turned from the blissful heat and sunshine of the earlier part of the shoot, to the usual unpredictability of a British summer. Some days it poured with rain and shooting was taken inside; the next day it could be hot and humid, causing havoc with continuity.

  Jenna couldn’t leave the situation with her, Milo, and Heidi be, not any longer, not after the latest gossip and not after the anger Finn had directed at her. They had scenes together but there was never a chance to talk to Milo – at least not privately. She knew she was being scrutinised. Everyone on set was talking about it; she knew paparazzi were camped outside the hotel, which made her wonder if they knew where she was staying. Was there a long lens spying on her through the trees at the end of the garden?

  Instead of making the most of the last couple of weeks’ filming, she was longing for it to end, counting down the days until she could escape what had essentially turned into a fish bowl – everyone watching her, everyone having an opinion about her life. And when she really thought about it, what Milo was actually doing could be seen as sexual harassment. With all the attention around #metoo she didn’t quite understand how he could get away with it, not in this day and age.